The Flexbar is a alternative for Apple’s Contact Bar that would give the Stream Deck a run for its cash — assuming the software program is absolutely hammered into form in some unspecified time in the future.
The Contact Bar was a component of the MacBook Professional keyboard that provided the promise of productiveness. By giving customers the flexibility to the touch a row of context-aware buttons that carried out shortcuts or modified settings, they may doubtlessly do extra with no need to navigate menus or bear in mind key mixtures.
Whereas the element had potential, it was typically derided and was ultimately changed by a row of bodily operate keys, following the dying of the 13-inch MacBook Professional.
Shoppers not have the choice of utilizing the Contact Bar in Apple’s present crop of {hardware}, and as a substitute they have to look elsewhere if the need one thing comparable. The Stream Deck is an apparent and well-tested possibility, however should you wished an interface that is a lot nearer to the Contact Bar in idea, you need to as a substitute flip to the Flexbar.
Created by Eniac, the Flexbar is a skinny OLED show that gives a set of software program buttons and controls to work along with your Mac and its apps. By touching the display screen, you may set off shortcuts, macros, or in any other case management the related Mac, all from a bar designed to sit down above your keyboard, like the unique Contact Bar.
Whereas it will not essentially supply all the performance of Apple’s Contact Bar, it does supply quite a lot of what its predecessor promised.
Flexbar overview – Design
The Flexbar is, mainly, an OLED show in an aluminum alloy enclosure. It is a skinny bar of a show, and at 10.8 inches lengthy, 0.6 inches huge, and 0.3 inches thick, it is virtually so long as a Magic Keyboard.
The aluminum alloy enclosure would not go amiss when surrounded by Apple {hardware}, so it is going to mix in with most individuals’s Mac setups with ease.
The center of the gadget is that 2K AMOLED display screen, which has a decision of two,170 by 60 pixels. This clearly is not meant for use as an precise show for content material, however it’s large enough for tappable parts to be seen.
Flexbar overview: The show is vibrant and simply readable.
It is a touch-enabled display screen, however there are additionally two black display-less parts on the ends. Whereas not used as a part of the seen show, they do nonetheless have makes use of, akin to opening a small interface drawer or being the default “again” button.
It is also very gentle at 71.7 grams (2.5 ounces), so it is easy to hold round with a MacBook Professional. That’s, should you can stow it away in a right-sized pocket in your bag.
When used as meant on the prime of a MacBook Professional’s keyboard, it does imply it’s a must to elevate your fingers about half an inch to press parts of it. When used on a desktop Mac, positioned on the desk behind the keyboard, it will be much more degree with the keys.
Flexbar overview: It is a lengthy touch-enabled show, much like the Contact Bar
When used by itself, its easy base means it could possibly simply slip round your desk should you’re not cautious. Eniac does provide some pads to extend the quantity of grip, however there’s additionally a magnetic stand that ships with it.
The wedge-shaped stand sticks to the Flexbar firmly, and angles the show towards the consumer, making it simpler to see the display screen. This does elevate the Flexbar up larger, so it is harder to succeed in on a MacBook Professional, however it’s significantly extra helpful for desktop-based customers.
Flexbar overview: The equipped magnetic wedge helps angle the Flexbar
Connecting the Flexbar to your Mac is dealt with by a USB-C cable, with a woven one equipped within the field. This connects to at least one finish of the Flexbar, dealing with information and energy.
This might be an issue for individuals wanting a wi-fi desktop, however it might be onerous to think about hiding a battery in that enclosure with no need to make it thicker.
By default, you connect with the USB-C port on the right-hand aspect of the show, however you may flip it round and alter a setting so it really works with the port on the left too.
The sunshine weight of the Flexbar does introduce the issue of cable jostling transferring the bar itself very simply. It is much less of a difficulty when utilizing the stand for additional weight, however it’s nonetheless one thing to remember whereas utilizing it.
Flexbar overview – Designer
Whereas the {hardware} itself is half the equation, the opposite is the software program. Flexbar Designer is the app you employ so as to add all the software program buttons and parts to the Flexbar itself.
Given a illustration of the Flexbar, customers can add buttons of various sorts that carry out completely different duties. The obvious are buttons used to carry out a macro or to carry out keypresses for you, akin to a button that locations primary HTML code right into a textual content field.
Different sorts embody media management, {hardware} administration parts such because the display screen brightness of your Mac or quantity management, and buttons to open webpages or functions.
All the buttons might be positioned simply, and with quite a lot of management over how every button seems. This will embody making a button wider or narrower, border kinds, font kinds, and association of parts throughout the button itself.
They don’t seem to be simply buttons, both. For instance, you may arrange a quantity management slider so that you could set the precise quantity proportion you need.
Not all the things needs to be interactive, as you can additionally use the Flexbar as a show for information. There are alternatives to view metrics akin to CPU load or RAM utilization, that are proven as live-updating graphs.
Flexbar overview: Flexbar Designer is used to configure the menus out of your Mac.
You are additionally not restricted to only one display screen of icons and parts, as you may outline pages. Every web page can maintain a number of buttons, which might make it lots simpler to group collectively shortcuts relying in your presently in-use software.
Within the quick time spent with the Flexbar, we have been in a position to arrange a web page of shortcuts for Blender and Twitch. In an illustration format preinstalled on the Flexbar, it included pages for Adobe functions, video games together with Minecraft, OBS, and pages of ready phrases and statements for chatrooms.
It’s doable to rearrange as much as 14 ranges of nested pages within the Flexbar, so you can simply arrange teams of icons into bigger teams. For instance, pages for Adobe Premiere, Lightroom, and Photoshop might be nested inside a common Adobe web page, which itself might be inside a Work nest.
The handbook does clarify that it’s doable to bind a web page to a window, so that it’ll seem on the Flexbar as quickly as that window or software is in deal with the principle desktop. This may be extraordinarily helpful, if correctly configured.
Whereas Eniac has gone to some bother to make the method of including parts to the Flexbar’s show comprehensible, it’s nonetheless quite a lot of work for a consumer to undertake. It might be made lots simpler for a consumer to get began with the Flexbar, akin to having pre-defined default shortcut collections for apps that customers may add.
This is not accessible now, however it might be sooner or later.
As a undertaking provided on Kickstarter, the crew remains to be engaged on getting all the parts in place, together with creating the software program that Flexbar must run. As prerelease software program equipped to AppleInsider earlier than the Flexbar shifts, the software program is in a usable state, if not absolutely polished.
Because it’s software program, there’s all the time the prospect of increasing its options to make it much more user-friendly. Certainly, there are already guarantees of parts which can be in growth to perform this.
A plug-in system will enable builders so as to add Flexbar performance by means of APIs. This gives the chance for deeper integration with apps, and probably extra management choices.
A plug-in market may even be on the way in which, which is able to in flip simplify the method of customers including apps to the Flexbar interface. It is simple to think about with the ability to set up a plugin and have a web page routinely populate with related buttons and controls for an app.
Nonetheless, these are nonetheless in-development options that will not be accessible at first. It’s anticipated that the plug-in system and market will launch someday within the second quarter of 2025.
They don’t seem to be accessible now, however it’s straightforward to see them being welcomed by customers down the street.
Flexbar overview – In Use
There may be the expectation that the Flexbar is comparable in utilization to Apple’s Contact Bar. To a degree, it’s.
The brilliant show, with an adjustable brightness management, crisply shows the software program buttons and sliders with out concern. Even with giant fingers, the smallest button settings are nonetheless simply pressed with out mis-taps, and positioned above the keyboard, it is simply inside attain.
That’s, if the cable of your keyboard does not get in the way in which an excessive amount of. When you have a keyboard with a cable that stands proud the again, it is going to get in the way in which and power you to maneuver the Flexbar over to the aspect.
Flexbar overview: The bottom could be very flat and slick. Use the magnetic stand for extra grip and weight.
The act of urgent the buttons or different parts can also be helped by haptic suggestions. A button faucet or a slide is greeted with a small vibration, acknowledging your press.
Faucets are additionally shortly acted upon in the event that they contain the Mac, with actions carried out with minimal lag.
It’s totally straightforward to think about utilizing this in an identical solution to a Stream Deck. When you have plenty of shortcuts and macros arrange in a Stream Deck, you may simply add extra in a bar-style association right here.
There are a couple of included features which can be extra for present than they’re sensible. There are hexadecimal converters and calculators which, whereas practical, do not actually lend themselves to a bar format versus your typical calculator quantity pad grid.
There’s additionally the curious addition of a ruler with each centimeter and inch markings. It’s kind of of enjoyable however additionally it is correct, making it helpful should you want a measurement and a bodily ruler is nowhere to be discovered.
Flexbar overview: It communicates to your Mac utilizing USB-C.
The place the Flexbar does not fairly match the Contact Bar is in Apple’s advantageous integrations. The important thing one being the shortage of steered phrases when utilizing a textual content editor, a activity the Contact Bar was extraordinarily helpful for having.
It is possible that this kind of performance might be added utilizing the plug-in system not directly, however not for the second.
Utilizing it over time, we did run into the difficulty of lightness, because it was very inclined to maneuver when tapped frivolously, even on the magnetic stand. That is most likely right down to utilizing it on a shiny wood floor fairly than a mousepad or one other floor with extra grip.
Flexbar overview – An awesome begin for a distinct segment peripheral
The Flexbar actually gives quite a lot of productiveness bonuses to customers in an identical solution to the Contact Bar it emulates, in addition to the competing Stream Deck. It is a helpful little display screen that provides shortcuts inside a brief vary of your fingertips and your keyboard.
It already demonstrates a excessive degree of customizability, however with it comes complexity. For one thing like this, you’d count on an intrepid consumer to have the ability to get themselves arrange and operating after a little bit of finding out learn how to use the Flexbar Designer software and a while tinkering.
For the common Mac consumer, they may want much more steerage as it’s fairly an intimidating factor to get going with. It does want extra simplification of the setup course of for these customers.
Handily, it is a factor that may be handled through software program updates, with add-ons on the way in which. Simply not proper now.
{Hardware}-wise, it is onerous to criticize the Flexbar. It is vibrant, huge, simply comprehensible as soon as arrange, and really intuitive to make use of.
Flexbar overview: There’s quite a lot of promise, however it must excellent its software program.
The sunshine weight of it’s mitigated by the extraordinarily helpful stand, however might be a difficulty. Some may additionally complain in regards to the lack of a battery and wi-fi choices, however that once more might be a second-gen revision.
As a primary try to attempt to make a comparative product to Apple’s Contact Bar, the Flexbar will get quite a lot of issues proper. {Hardware}-wise it is just about there, with software program enhancements being the following part of enchancment.
It is not fairly there proper now. We are able to actually inform the place the crew desires to go along with this, and the place it’d ultimately find yourself.
Flexbar Professionals
- Apple-like bodily design
- Vivid and simple to make use of show
- Vastly customizable menus, with the prospect for extra with app plug-ins
Flexbar Cons
- Preliminary setup is difficult to the common consumer
- Gentle weight, simply moved with the cable
Ranking: 3 out of 5
The Flexbar is an attention-grabbing product. As a rule, we like the concept, and the idea. The execution simply is not there proper now, and potential customers could be higher served with an Elgato Stream Deck, with the software program the way in which it’s.
So, this rating is predicated on the pre-release {hardware} and software program equipped to AppleInsider for overview functions. It takes under consideration what’s usable on the time of the overview itself, and does not think about software program enhancements which have but to be applied.
If performed proper, the inbound software program updates anticipated within the coming months may make it a much better total product. It is simply possible for the rating to be 4 out of 5 at that time — it simply is not proper now. We could revisit this sooner or later.
As a part of the overview, we have additionally included the truth that it is a crowdfunded undertaking. As a crowdfunded undertaking, there’s all the time the chance the product not delivery as promised — or in any respect. Due to this, AppleInsider does not cowl nearly all of crowdfunding efforts as a rule, except {hardware} is accessible and after an evaluation of the crew behind the hassle.
The place to purchase the Flexbar
The Flexbar is presently accessible on Kickstarter with a marketing campaign that can finish on January 2, 8 AM Jap, 1 PM UTC. On the time of publication, it has raised $264,684 of its $2,576 aim.
It has an MSRP of $179, with Kickstarter backer bundles ranging from $149.
